The Adventures of Grammy and Grandad: Christmas and Families

December is such a wonderful time with all the things that lead to our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a time for families to get together. We love that we have had some snow to help our water situation. What a blessing. Dad and Brother Seamons drug this big garbage can to haul to the road.

Everyone has left now, and Tiffani and Shanelle are recovering from their surgeries, which is such a blessing. Tiffani has a lot more to do, but she has such a positive attitude. Shanelle has done great also.

Riley helped us put up our Christmas lights, which we cannot do ourselves any more. He’s fun to have around.

Later that day we put up our Christmas balls in our magnolia tree which we love to do. They make us happy. Later we put up more outside Christmas balls.

Sunday the 3rd the people who help with the ordinances in the Provo Temple were invited to an evening fireside. Elder and Sister Erich W. Kopischke were the speakers and were so in tune with what we needed to hear. It was wonderful.

That day was also Tiffani and Dave's wedding anniversary. I think they have been married 24 years. They love where they are and love their family. It’s a good match.

Dec. 6th Scott came and fixed a few tiles in our new shower. We don’t see much of him any more so we love it when he can come over.

After the Payson Temple, Dad took our car to have the back fixed. It doesn’t move up and down right. He took it in and the man checked it and it worked perfectly. Weird.

On the 8th we had an amazing Christmas dinner at our building. We invited Kolton and a companion from his mission, Fredrick. We had so much fun. We even sat on Santa’s lap, all four of us at the same time. It was just a fun evening.

Saturday and Sunday were very hard days for me. I was really worried. It scared me. I’m having a hard time with my left hip. Saturday we stayed home and watched the girls play volleyball. They won. We love that we can see them on our big screen.

The 11th we went to Vanita’s viewing at the mortuary. It was nice, but hard because she and Vernon have been together for 70 years and are such marvelous people. They have been a constant example to so many. He has taken care of her in their home for some time now.

The 12th we went to the temple early so we could attend her funeral. They had many family members in attendance. It was nice. Troy Hulse, a good friend, saved us seats, which was very nice of him. Afterwards he came to our house for a visit.

Wednesday Dad finally made an appointment to see Dr. Jackson about the pain in his neck since he fell. He gave him a relaxing prescription and a therapist.

The 14th Camden left the MTC for his mission in Poland. He will be a great missionary because he has been taught to love the Lord and to do good in every way. We are so proud of him.

Friday was kind of a sad day because it was the last time for Dad to serve in the Provo Temple. He will now be serving in the Orem Temple.

Saturday we watched football all day. The best thing was that I had time to remember how to tat. It has been a long time coming and I am so excited.

Sunday the 17th we had a great lesson from Revelations and the 7,000 years of the Earth’s existence. It helped me learn so much more about it. Sister Rust did a beautiful coverage on the topic. Cameron came that evening for dinner. We love that he comes.

Monday was a sad day because Dad burned a lot of steak in the Traeger Smoker because he had the temperature too high. He loves this jerky he makes and it just made him so sad. He still ate it, but it was nowhere near as good. I love that he likes to use the smoker and try new things. He is so fun to live with.

Tuesday the 19th was Bailey Bayles’s 23rd birthday. She fits into our family as if she has always been here. We love her, and Riley is so blessed to have found her. She is studying nursing.

Wednesday we made cards to go with our treats and honey from our hive for friends and neighbors.

We live in a great neighborhood. We also gave a candy bar.

Dec. 21st Ashley and Tyler celebrated their wedding anniversary. I have no idea how many years, but enough to have four beautiful children. They have a very happy family and are such good parents.

I gave Ashley these to paint with their children

Saturday the 23, Cameron drove to Vegas for the Christmas break. It was good that he could be home with family.

Christmas Eve was a wonderful sacrament meeting in our ward. It was a few remarks with a lot of beautiful music by individuals and our ward choir. It really brought the spirit of our Savior into our meeting and reminded us of the reason we are so blessed with a loving Father in Heaven and His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Christmas Day is very different without little children, but it is also very humbling to know where our families are and how they celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. After we got up and opened our presents, which were way too many because of our kids, we drove to visit our three sons and their families. We started with Scott and Beth. We love that they still have a little one, and two a bit older, Santa gave us some reindeer food for them to put out in the backyard so the reindeer wouldn’t get hungry. Maybe they saw them. Their home was filled with laughter and fun. That’s why we go. Dad showed up in a festive way.

Never a dull moment!

The next stop was Erik and Shanelle’s. We love the different ages, but still the laughter and joy. Not so many toys because of their ages. They were all dressed in the same jammies and shirts. Parker and Jessa were at Erik and Shanelle’s for Christmas, which made it even better. We love their addition to their family with Jessa. She just fits right in with all those boys. We missed Elder Camden, but were so proud and thrilled to know that he was in Poland doing missionary service. We love him. Throughout the year, Shanelle had given us topics to write about our lives on the computer and she handed them to us all published for Christmas. It took all year. That was quite a project for her, especially with having a stay in the hospital.

Way too much fun.

The last stop was Clark and Dianne’s home. They were playing games, snacking, or sleeping. What another fun home shared with love. It was close to noon and they invited us to see “The Boys in the Boat" movie at a theater. We had read the book and were excited to see the movie. We were not disappointed. It was so fun to be together and view such a good film.

We were exhausted when we finally got home as it was just such a wonderful day. We are so blessed to live in families and learn together.

When we got home, we heard from both daughters. I don’t know what order, but both reported how wonderful their Christmas was. Tiffani cooked dinner for 40 friends, which I couldn’t believe, but she loves Christmas. They had a Polar Plunge in the swimming pool and Clara won $100. What fun!

Kristin is out of control at Christmas and has the missionaries over during the Holidays. I don’t know quite how Santa has so many things stored for that family, but it happens. She cooks up another huge dinner (even black eyed peas for New Years). I'm sure she had others there also. It was fun to talk to the girls. What a great family we are a part of. We love every of them.

After Baylie's choir concert

No comment on this one!

Some time that day we opened many presents from our kids. They are so great. We are so blessed.

We had fun cleaning up because it reminded us of all the fun we had in such a short time

We were sad to take down Joseph and Mary

ALL IS WELL

The 26th was football, Hallmark movies, and naps. What a great day.

Thursday the 28th Rowan Noel turned 7. She is an active little girl with lots of energy. She loves her family and loves to dance. It’s in the family. She is #18 in the grandchild roll and loves life. I think we sang to her a day later.

The next day was Shanelle’s birthday and we sang to her. She is an amazing woman. She is so quiet, but has so many talents that she never boasts about. She is an amazing mother to boys and teaches them by example how to treat others. She loves her family and they know it by how she serves them.

The New Year came in quietly in our home. More football and movies. We have enjoyed so many things this year and hope for the same next year. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has helped us so much with everything we have been involved in. Our family is so important to us and we love seeing the wonderful parents our children and their spouses have become. They have given us wonderful grandchildren to enjoy for eternity. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way we can have our families forever and we love every one of them. We are so blessed.

As we wrote about Tiffani and her scare with cancer, we are blessed that after many trips to doctors, the surgery is ongoing and everything so far has turned out well. Although some hiccups have occurred, she will have chemo for 12 weeks and estrogen blockers for a year. She has a port installed near her collarbone for this. In May she will have some reconstruction. It will be difficult, but we have been blessed beyond measure.

Our only missionary! ELDER CAMDEN BAYLES